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History of Top 40 Radio in NYC
- Thread starter MVB13
- Start date
With Imus & Stern? Really?
When they weren't talking. But like I said, no NYC station specialized in contemporary hits from the spring of 1982 to the summer of 1983.
Based on trade magazine reporting, it does look like WNBC played more “heavier” music than the typical early 1980s AC.
The last week of May, they added Twilight Zone by Golden Earring. #1 was Hungry Like The Wolf, 3 was Billie Jean and 10 was Seperate Ways.
In some ways, they were more CHR than WABC was the last year or two.
The last week of May, they added Twilight Zone by Golden Earring. #1 was Hungry Like The Wolf, 3 was Billie Jean and 10 was Seperate Ways.
In some ways, they were more CHR than WABC was the last year or two.
I was living in New York at the time. WNBC was playing Top 40 but with a mature approach and full-service elements.
Marcos C (above) is sort of right but not quite. PD Al Brady tried to revive WABC at the start of 1980 with an Adult Top 40 sound in the daytime and a youth-oriented sound at night, but it didn't work. The horse had left the barn. So during 1980, Howard Hoffman was moved from evenings to the overnight show, marking the end of WABC as a Top 40 station. WABC then became an AC station until its switch to Talk in 1982.
In the late 70's, New York's only FM Top 40 station, 99X (WXLO), had flipped to AC as FM 99. So New York was really without a CHR station from mid-1980 until August, 1983, when Z100 signed on. In 1981-82, a number of factors revived CHR, including the Hot Hits format and the launch of MTV.
And just to add on, WPLJ had one of the most unusual format flips that I had ever heard. Around the time that Z100 signed on in August, 1983, WPLJ, which for years had been a highly-successful AOR, started slipping in a CHR song every so often. As the weeks went by, they mixed in more and more CHR songs until the station was...well, CHR.
Then they started replacing several of the rock jocks, keeping morning man Jim Kerr and PM driver Pat St. John. Larry Berger remained as PD and designed the new format. At the time, I thought they didn't know what they were doing. They jocks, even the new ones, didn't seem to fit the format, and I thought the sweepers were just not of New York quality. Many years later, in response to a comment of mine on the New York Radio Message Board, Berger said he understood my perception but that his objective was to create an Adult Top 40 station and not a youth-oriented format like Z100.
Then they started replacing several of the rock jocks, keeping morning man Jim Kerr and PM driver Pat St. John. Larry Berger remained as PD and designed the new format. At the time, I thought they didn't know what they were doing. They jocks, even the new ones, didn't seem to fit the format, and I thought the sweepers were just not of New York quality. Many years later, in response to a comment of mine on the New York Radio Message Board, Berger said he understood my perception but that his objective was to create an Adult Top 40 station and not a youth-oriented format like Z100.
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I do believe you're correct that WPLJ started their conversion to Top 40 in anticipation of Z100, but getting to the end product took several months, long after Z100 launched. Scott Shannon used to crucify PLJ on the air during this period, referring to Larry Berger as Larry Booger.
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Was WAPP 103.5 Top 40?
Yes, for a very short time. When Doubleday, headed by former WMCA Good Guy Gary Stevens, took over the station in 1982, they launched an AOR format against WPLJ and WNEW-FM.
That didn't work so I'm thinking in 1984, they went CHR, which I thought was a very poorly thought-out move because Z100 and WPLJ were in a very heated battle. Keep in mind that at the time, WAPP had a directional antenna that caused signal limitations in parts of the market. (103.5 now has as good a signal as anyone else.)
They brought in some of the top jocks in the country, Bobby Ocean, Gary Spears, Harry Nelson, but were unable to gain any traction with the format. Not that long after, they became Hot 103.
I'm guessing you don't have access to www.reelradio.com, but I contributed an aircheck of WAPP during its CHR days.
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During its later years, WNBC was a mixture of AC and oldies.
No, WNBC did not become a sports station. In 1988, WNBC signed off for good, and WFAN changed its dial position from 1050 to 660. When WFAN began broadcasting on 660, it inherited the following from WNBC: the license to broadcast on 660, Imus in the Morning, and the broadcast rights to the Knicks and the Rangers. However, WFAN inherited neither the intellectual property nor the history of WNBC.
In the early 1980's you had WNBC and WYNY. Which was the real defacto Top 40 station during that time will lie in the ears of the beholder. WYNY was the station to hear any of the latest music while airing Dick Clark's National Music Survey. WNBC was the station to hear any of the latest music while airing the ever popular American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. AT40 moved to WPLJ in late November 1983. With WABC ending their music format in May 1982 do you think 103.5 WAPP should have gone to pick up that Top 40/CHR format instead of the AOR format? Can you imagine if 103.5 WAPP had gone to the Top 40/CHR format and went commercial free all summer long? Can you imagine what ratings they had if they stuck with the Top 40/CHR format by the Fall of 1982 and airing commercials? 103.5 WAPP could have had better ratings if they had gone to the Top 40/CHR format.
By 1981, WYNY was more of an AC/mellow rock station than Top 40. Here's an article from the time:
SOUNDS OF SUCCESS AT WYNY (Published 1981)
The Dick Clark show you mentioned was offered as both CHR and AC. At some point, Casey did the same thing. So it's possible that WYNY aired the AC version.
WYNY hit its stride as an AC station under PD Pete Salant in the early 80's. It sounded great and had an all-star lineup including Bruce Bradley in the morning, Bill St. James in middays, Dan Daniel in afternoons and Steve O'Brien in evenings.
Then it kind of lost its focus around 1983 or 1984. Part of that was prior to August, 1983, WYNY was the only place to go for songs appealing to CHR listeners though YNY didn't play the harder current hits. So those listeners moved on to Z100 after it signed on.
IMHO, the big event leading to the downfall of WYNY as an AC station was the format flip of Beautiful Music WRFM to AC WNSR around that time. WNSR incessantly drilled into listeners' minds what its format was: New York's Soft Rock. Meanwhile, WYNY was saying nothing to define itself.
Then it kind of lost its focus around 1983 or 1984. Part of that was prior to August, 1983, WYNY was the only place to go for songs appealing to CHR listeners though YNY didn't play the harder current hits. So those listeners moved on to Z100 after it signed on.
IMHO, the big event leading to the downfall of WYNY as an AC station was the format flip of Beautiful Music WRFM to AC WNSR around that time. WNSR incessantly drilled into listeners' minds what its format was: New York's Soft Rock. Meanwhile, WYNY was saying nothing to define itself.
That was 1986, and not long afterwards, WYNY flipped to country. Then two years later it moved up to 103.5.
Correct. In 1988, NBC sold off its radio division. Emmis purchased NBC's 2 New York stations, WNBC and WYNY. Then Emmis sold 1050 AM to Spanish Broadcasting Company and 103.5 FM to Westwood One. Emmis then moved the 1050 format (The Fan) to 660 and Hot 103 to 97.1 (as Hot 97). I don't recall if there were dollars involved, but Westwood One put WYNY's calls, County format and staff on 103.5.
The arrival of Disco 92 (where Alt92.3 is now) in 1978 ended the long reign of WABC at the top of the ratings. WKTU claimed it went "from worst to first." A lot of people, including longtime PD Rick Sklar, said the foundation for the fall started several years earlier. In his book, Rick says he left WABC in 1977, and the next year, the station lost two share points. He says, "The ratings continued to decline in a market situation that saw music audiences audiences turn increasingly to FM for their radio entertainment."
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